I've Never Stopped Being Yours
by chalantness
Summary: Post 3x09, "Homecoming" — He could've gotten it all back, and yet, he's pulled over with Katherine on the side of the empty highway with her hands idle on the steering wheel and his clasped on his lap.


**I've Never Stopped Being Yours**

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><p>They had come a long way, and he's not just talking about the miles she put between them and Mystic Falls. He's talking about the years between 1864, when he used to worship the ground she walked on, and right now, as he's sitting beside her in a car that she may or may not have rented (stolen) after they've sabotaged his brother's plans.<p>

Klaus just set him free.

Elena was waiting at the Boarding House and his humanity was ready to be turned back on.

He could've gotten it all back, and yet, he's pulled over with Katherine on the side of the empty highway with her hands idle on the steering wheel and his clasped on his lap.

He lets out a breath and she rolls her head against the headrest to look at him. Her hair isn't clipped back like it was earlier, so it falls in curls over her shoulders, and she looks stunning. She's _always_ looked stunning, never just sexy or hot, at least to him. She's beautiful. The part he doesn't get is why, after all this time? Why, after everything they've been to, does she continue to look so… angelic to him?

"You've wanted Klaus dead for over five hundred years," he points out slowly, meeting her stare. "Why would you risk all that just to save Damon's life?"

"I wasn't just trying to save Damon's life, Stefan," she says, leaning in. "I was trying to save yours." His eyes look away, falling on her lips. He used to know those lips so well. "Your humanity." He looks back up and wonders what would happen if he just leaned in a little closer and kissed her.

A big part of him just _really_ wants to.

"Let's just say I like the old you better," she adds with a slight smirk, and he exhales a laugh.

"Come on, Katherine. You don't care about anybody but yourself, you know that."

"You and I both know that that is not true." Her voice is a little harsher this time, or maybe he's just imagining it, but he's looking into her eyes and thinking that yeah, he's known for a while now. She's said it a handful of times (which is a lot considering Katherine does not like repeating herself) and he might let himself believe her.

"I loved you," she says in this soft voice. "I loved Damon, too."

He looks away.

In a crazy but not impossible way, _that_ is what drove them, _all_ of them, up to this point. He could laugh about it if he were in a better mood to do so.

Katherine shifts and leans her elbow against the window, pushing her fingers through her hair. "Humanity is a vampire's greatest weakness," she says, and how deeply he understands that is left unspoken between them. "No matter how easy it is to turn it off, it just keeps fighting its way back in." She blows out this breath and looks at him again. "Sometimes I let it."

He meets her eyes again and notices that they're noticeably brighter than he expected despite the darkness around them. He wonders if that's supposed to mean something.

"I can't let it all back in," he whispers, and she doesn't look surprised in the slightest. "I don't want to. Not after everything I've done."

"Of course you don't want to." She leans in a little more, close enough that he can count every one of her eyelashes. When she speaks again, her breath is warm against his face. "But you'll have to."

He stares at her, trying to see into her mind. He's always, always wanted to know what exactly went on in her head, and he knows she's aware of this.

"Why will I have to?"

She licks her lips a little, her eyes shifting down to his lips and then away as she pulls away. "Is this far enough?"

He leans his head back again, exhaling. And that's the sad part, really. He has all of this freedom and the _world_ to live in. Unlike Katherine or Elena or Damon or any of them, he's no longer running from something, no longer has anything he needs to worry about. It should be this huge sigh of relief, but it's not.

He doesn't know what he's supposed to do next.

"Where will you go?"

Katherine laughs humorlessly. "Anywhere that gets me far from Mystic Falls and Klaus."

"Starting now?" She nods, brushing her hair back. "You're always running."

"Well, like I said to Damon over the phone," she reminds, "At least my life will never be boring."

She meets his eyes and he's not sure if it's a vampire impulse or a Katherine impulse but he's suddenly asking, "Did you need a partner for the road?"

He _does_ get the muted sense of satisfaction at the surprise on her face (it takes a _lot_ to surprise her, or at least, for him it has) at his question, and for a full minute, it's completely silent in the car.

The thing is, he thinks maybe that's exactly what he needs. He tried to return to Mystic Falls, to relive their memories and to settle down, and look where that got him. He knows he doesn't have to completely forget everything (despite how part of him thinks it'd be better if he did), but maybe he just needs to put that all away for now.

He needs to start a new life again and maybe she's supposed to be part of it this time.

"Are you really asking me this?"

He shrugs his shoulders, looking forward at the road ahead and where it disappeared where the headlights couldn't shine far enough. "It's not like I have anywhere else to be."

Her eyes are still watching him intently (he can feel it) and he'll be honest when he says that he can't anticipate any answer. There are plenty of reasons why she could say no, like the fact if she really loves him, she'll want him to live his life and not have to run from Klaus with her. But she could also say yes, because she always seemed to follow him anyway, so she can't hide wanting to be near him.

And he hates the fact that if she does say no, he's not going to have anywhere else to go. Being with her is kind of all he has in the world right now.

It seems long enough where he thinks she's going to say no when she tells him, "You're paying for the first hotel," starts the car again and pulls back into the lane.

They (Katherine) finally find a hotel worth staying at when it's nearly dawn. It's five stars and their suite is too big for just the two of them, and it would be impossible to afford if they weren't loaded with money from over the years and if they didn't have compulsion. Katherine has always been extravagant and before it used to be tiring. Now he just finds it amusing.

He doesn't even realize until they're sitting on the large bed, her in a slip and he in his boxers, drinking blood diluted with vodka out of glasses, that he never got a straight answer from her.

And really, it's the best _"yes"_ he's never gotten.

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><p><strong>An:** I just _really_ want these two to travel the world together! The very ending scene (when Stefan was on the phone with Klaus) was obviously written out of this particular story, but after watching it, I pretended that Katherine had been the one to help him move the caskets and that she was right outside or something waiting for them to make their next move together.

Sorry it's so short but I just needed to write something for these two after their moments in "Homecoming" because, ugh, I love them so much!

_So you read it. Love it? Hate it? Please review it!_


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